About the Project

“The purpose of the WhyArts? “Diversability” Project is to bridge the gap; connecting people of ALL abilities through the medium of large-scale painting in a public space. The objective is to give a voice to our participants in the public space and to draw citizens into a connection with our clients, who have formed the content and have had a hand in the formal production,” Mike Giron, mural artist. This project is the culmination of months of work by participants from partnering organizations Munroe-Meyer Institute, Ollie Webb, Quality Living Inc, and VODEC. Each organization serves a disabled population through programs that encourage independence, creativity, and community integration. Participants from each organization worked side by side with WhyArts? artists working on developing and expanding on the theme “Diversability.” The work created in those workshops were then given to Mike to develop a composition. Once a final drawing was approved by the artists, Tip Top Thrift Shop, and the participating organizations it was then transferred to parachute cloth and distributed to Munroe-Meyer Institute, Ollie Webb, Quality Living Inc, and VODEC to be painted on by the clients from each organization. Once all the shapes were painted they were then cut out and adhered to the surface of the back wall of Tip Top Thrift Shop. The wall was also painted to integrate with the cut out shapes.